India Inc may add steam to save railway heritage assets

Currently, the railways spend about Rs 250-300 cr annually to maintain and manage its heritage assets

The 160-year-old Indian Railways legacy will get on to a new track, as plans for a special purpose vehicle (SPV) gain traction. The proposed SPV between ministries of railway, culture and tourism would have the mandate to preserve the national transporter’s heritage assets and also raise funds from the private sector to manage these.

According to a proposal that the Railway Board is looking at, the assets will be transferred to the management committee of the SPV. Also, the SPV will engage with the corporate sector and experts to manage the assets. There are plans to monetise these properties as well